


Designated Survivor

by Daughter of Vayu (aquaregia)



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Characters Deaths, Designated Survivor AU, Gen, Minor Characters Death OffScreen, Not biologically, Politics, President Spencer Reid, Spencer and JJ are Siblings, White House AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 03:30:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17675624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquaregia/pseuds/Daughter%20of%20Vayu
Summary: Unexpected event made Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Spencer Reid, being sworn as the President of the United States. And now he had to do the job he wasn't sure he was prepared to do.





	Designated Survivor

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on the first episode of Designated Survivor, some dialogs were taken from the show. Though I changed up several things, hope it's working. Also, as a non-American, I might get the politics wrong, so I apologized. All I know about it comes from TV Series like West Wing, House of Cards, Designated Survivor. and other political series, along with hours of late night shows content on YouTube. Also, sorry for typos and grammatical mistakes, I tried to do my best.
> 
> Feel free to leave kudos and comments! I might continued this as a series of one-shots.

A **designated survivor** is an individual in the presidential line of succession, usually a member of the United States Cabinet,

who is arranged to be at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the President, the Vice President, and the other officials

in the line of succession are gathered at a single location.

 

* * *

 

Spencer Reid woke up in his familiar bed, in his familiar room, in his apartment two hours earlier than his alarm clock. He didn’t know what woke him up, but after a few seconds he realized that his cell phone was buzzing noisily on his bedside table. He sighed, running his long fingers through his messy curls, cut short when he was appointed to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development three years ago. Now at 35 years old, he was still one of the youngest cabinet member in United States’ history so far.

Finally gathering his consciousness, he grabbed his phone, looking down to see the name “Emily” flashing on the screen. Emily Prentiss, his Chief of Staff, always knew better than to call him at this time of the day unless there was an emergency. He swiped the screen to pick up the call.

“Hello?” his voice was still hoarse from sleep.

“ _Good morning, Reid. I know you don’t like it when I call you this early in the morning, but I just got a call from President’s office, he wanted to move the meeting first thing in the morning._ ”

“Wait… what…?” Spencer frowned, feeling more awake now after hearing the word “President” from Emily. “I thought the meeting is after lunch…”

“ _Nope. I just got the call. So prepare for early morning meeting. I’ll pick you up,_ ” Emily said. “ _Don’t be late._ ”

Spencer groaned as he buried his head into his pillow. “Fine, fine. Bring doughnuts?”

“ _Chocolate frosted with sprinkles, right?_ ” Spencer could hear the teasing tone in Emily’s voice. “ _Of course. I’ll see you in a few hours._ ”

“Bye, Em.”

The call ended, yet Spencer still didn’t feel like waking up. He was a bit nervous when he received a phone call from the President’s Chief of Staff, Aaron Hotchner, about the meeting with President Jason Gideon in Oval Office after lunch. He wasn’t sure why he called for the meeting, but he got a pretty good guess it was about the State of the Union address the President would deliver tonight. Emily had promised him to send a copy of the address as soon as she got it, but he didn't check his email since the night before. He could check it in the morning, it would take less than a minute for him to finish reading it after all, and he still got several things to do.

Being the youngest Secretary in the President’s Cabinet forced him to work twice harder than any other person just to prove himself. When Jason Gideon was elected for the Office of Presidency, he appointed Spencer as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. People doubted his credibility, especially with his age, being in his early 30 when he was taking the office of HUD’s Secretary. No matter if you had an IQ of 187, four Ph.D’s (in Mathematics, Physics, and Engineering from Caltech, and additional one in Linguistic from Harvard), eidetic memory, and ability to read 20,000 words in a minute, people would still questioned his experience. After all, he was pretty much unknown, as he never been elected to any position before. But he knew Gideon since he was 17 and finishing his third doctorate when the man came to guess lecture in one of Spencer’s class and he took notice of the skinny kid in grandfather-cardigan. Gideon had put his trust on Spencer when he offered him the position. It took almost three years before people stopped second-guessing his works and being mistaken as an intern from time to time when he entered the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building (he was pretty sure it was a running joke in the Department now).

He forced himself to get up from his bed and made his way to the kitchen and made himself coffee. He went to get his stack of newspapers, there were at least twenty different newspapers he was subscribing, including several smaller ones which only reported local news. He sat in his kitchen table while waiting for his coffee and read each of them as quickly as he could (it was still early in the morning and he hadn’t got his morning dose of caffeine yet). By the time he was finished reading, his coffee was done as he poured it into a huge coffee mug and started adding sugar into it. He grabbed his tablet from the couch, something that Emily insisted he should have when she took the position as the Chief of Staff. Spencer didn’t really like reading from the tablet, but Emily told him about several newspapers gone digital nowadays. He read slower, as he always did when he used his tablet, and sipping his coffee-laced sugar.

He still got plenty of time after he finished his morning routine, he turned the television on while preparing his breakfast, letting the voice of the news anchor droned in the background talking about tonight’s State of the Union address.

After shower and his second cup of coffee, Spencer was already dressed his in his suits. His hair was the usual messy tousled curls and Spencer was never really care trying to tame it. Emily showed up on time, looking sharp as usual though with worried look on her face.

“I know that look,” Spencer said as he got into Emily’s car and received his doughnuts. “Is something wrong?”

“Have you read the copy of State of the Union address I sent you this morning?” Emily asked urgently.

“Not yet. I was distracted by this journal I found about the application psycholinguistic for experimental philosophy. Do you know--”

“Reid,” Emily cut him off gently before he started to ramble on. “You need to read the copy now,” she nodded at some documents sitting in the backseat. Spencer blinked before he reached the said copy and read it quick.

He frowned and looked up to Emily who was still driving. “None of our talking points are included,” he mumbled as he flipped the pages. “None at all… not even housing reform,” he looked confused. “Emily, everything we’ve been working on for months are gone. How could this happen? Have you talk to anyone at the White House? They can’t just erase our works like this from the President’s State of the Union address…”

“I called Hotch this morning to ask about it, and he said Gideon would like to talk about it directly to you in the meeting this morning. I know you’ve been working hard about this plan, Reid, but we’re not the President of the United States. We can leak it to Politico, but I’m afraid it will only backfire.”

“Tonight is about what’s in the State of the Union, not what’s not,” Spencer agreed. “As much as we want our domestic agenda to be out there, I’m just the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, not the President.” As close as he was to Gideon, he knew the man had his own agenda in the office. Gideon might look casual and less uptight in his Presidency, but Spencer knew better how good the man was at playing the game called politics. Not mentioning anything about HUD in his address? He had his own reason and Spencer should just swallowed his pride and let the White House took an eraser to the HUD’s talking points and made them disappeared.

Still, it hurt a bit.

Emily drove him to the White House as they stepped into the West Wing. It was buzzing and full of activities as usual. Emily walked confidently, yet Spencer always felt awkward in this place no matter how many times he had stepped foot into it. At the end of the corridor, President’s Chief of Staff, Aaron Hotchner, was talking to one of the speechwriter dressed in colorful outfit with elaborate hair ornaments, Spencer couldn’t remember her name--Gomez or something maybe, he thought.

“Hotch!” Emily called out to him, making the Chief of Staff turned and nodded at the sight of Spencer and Emily.

“Mr. Secretary, Prentiss,” he smiled slightly and shook Emily’s hand while Spencer gave him a small awkward wave. It was a common knowledge the Secretary of HUD’s hate of shaking hands unless it was absolutely necessary. “Meet my Deputy Chief of Staff, Elle Greenaway,” he motioned to a stern looking woman, dressed sharply in dark blue suits.

“Nice to meet you,” Emily smiled at Greenaway. “About the address…”

“I’d love to talk about it with you, but the President insisted on talking about it with Secretary Reid alone,” Hotchner said calmly. “He’s in the Oval Office.”

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t his first time in the Oval Office since his appointment as Secretary of HUD, but Spencer still felt overwhelmed when he stepped into the room. President Jason Gideon was reading through the documents on his desk, signaling Spencer to wait for a bit. Spencer took this chance to study the room, smiling at the half finished game of chess tucked behind several stacks of paper. Reid could see checkmate in 5. He used to play a lot of chess with Gideon when he was younger. The man was some sort of mentor to Spencer, a father figure even since his own father was pretty much AWOL when he was 10, leaving him with his schizophrenic mother.

Four minutes twenty-seven seconds later Gideon finishing up and joining Spencer on the couch in his office. He looked pretty casual in his usual shirt unbuttoned on the top and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Gideon was never much a fan of dressing up.

“Mr. President,” Spencer smiled and waved awkwardly, knowing Gideon would just give his amused smile at Spencer’s quirks (he told him it was rather endearing).

“Come now, Spencer, we’ve known each other for a long time for you to call me ‘Mr. President’,” the older man shook his head with a small smile on his face.

“I would’ve addressed you casually as always, but then I got the copy of your State of the Union address and realized that there was not a single mention of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s programs we’ve been working on after months we spent on planning on our domestic agenda, which I’ll remind you, Mr. President, was supposed to be _your_ agenda as well. I can’t help but thought you might do it on purpose to undermine my Department,” Spencer said sharply, “So it makes me think.”

“Spencer, it’s not what you think…” Gideon said slowly.

“Well, how am I supposed to feel, then? It took three years for me to finally settle in this job and gained some respect, and yet not even one of our programs mentioned in your speech. I can’t help but thinking that this is your way of punishing me for not always playing your game of politics,” Spencer sighed tiredly. He always being called naive when he stayed in his idealistic way. He stayed out of those type of politics, trying to not be one of _them_ . JJ, his adoptive sister, told him being a professor would better suit him than sitting in the office as a Secretary in the President’s Cabinet. And Spencer had to admit, she was right. But still, Spencer liked his job, feeling like he had done _something_ for people. But it was hard to stay away from the dirty play going on around him.

And now the man he trusted decided to just not mention any of Spencer’s programs to the American people. It just wasn’t fair.

“Look, I didn’t mean to undermine your work by not mentioning it at all. But there are other more pressing matters to put forward. I’m sure the public already know about you and your department’s hard work to help American people. You’ve been working harder than anyone in my Cabinet, Reid, and I appreciate it. I called you for this private meeting to apologize about it. It was never my intention to not putting forward your programs, but the speech has been locked now and there’s nothing we can do now. I don’t want you to feel hurt when you find out after listening to the speech later tonight,” Gideon explained.

Of course, Spencer thought. People would be more interested to hear about some other excellent works done by the State Department or Treasury, or even any other Departments, really. Three years it took until Spencer gained some recognition for his work, not only his IQ, or his reading speed, or his eidetic memory, or his Ph.D’s (or his looks apparently, he was shocked when Emily showed him an article of Top 50 Hottest Celebrities--which apparently including politicians--in some famous lifestyle magazine).

But in the end, he wasn’t the President of the United States.

“I understand, Gideon,” Spencer nodded.

“Good, good. Fancy a game of chess? I don’t want to see Hotch now. He has been haranguing me about putting on that horrible red tie tonight. I hate tie, let alone the red one,” Gideon complained.

And soon, the tense atmosphere dissolved into a quiet game of chess. Spencer and Gideon enjoying the game until they were interrupted with a sharp knock on the door and Hotch appeared in the doorway, reminding Gideon about his next appointment.

“Come to the Resident tomorrow, we’ll continue our game by then,” Gideon said to Spencer.

“Of course. I’ll get going now,” Spencer said as he let himself out of the Oval Office and trying to find Emily so she could take him to his office.

 

* * *

 

It was later in the afternoon while he was enjoying his late-lunch with JJ, his adoptive sister and his Godson/nephew, Henry, when he received the call about being the designated survivor. In the occasion of the President, Vice-President, and other members of the Cabinet gathered at a single location, one member of the Cabinet was taken to an undisclosed location to ensure the government could still continue in case other Cabinet members were killed and unable to work. And so here he was finding himself sitting in some government building in DC, watching the State of the Union from the television with stack of books to accompany him.

He had made himself comfortable in his overly huge sweater that slightly unraveled on the sleeves, a loose comfortable pants and his glasses (JJ called it his “hispter-glasses” and told him it made him looked younger than he was). His mismatched socks clad feet comfortably tucked underneath him as he half-listened to Gideon talked on television.

His phone rang and he saw JJ’s name on the screen. He loved his older sister, even though they weren’t related by blood. Mrs. Jareau, JJ’s mother, was taking care of him when his father left him and his mother. He was only ten, and Mrs. Jareau just moved next door with her husband and two daughters, Rosalyn and Jennifer. After his mother was having an episode, they didn’t have a choice but to have her committed to Bennington because there was no way a ten years old Spencer could take care of her alone. He lived with the Jareau and pretty much adopted by the family afterward. They even helped him getting through college and he spent his time in their house when school wasn’t in session.

And now he was 35 years old, JJ had married an MPD cop, Will LaMontagne and had a son, Henry, who was Spencer’s Godson. Other than Mrs. Jareau and Diana Reid, they were the only people he considered his family. He was planning on going to her place this morning for breakfast since Henry insisted on going to the museum with his Uncle Spence.

Spencer picked up the phone.

“Hey…” Spencer greeted.

“ _Hey. I heard you’re being hidden away tonight,_ ” JJ sounded amused over the phone.

“Yeah. I’m watching Gideon on TV right now,” Spencer chuckled.

“ _Huh… And here I thought you would take the chance to read the new books you haven’t got a chance to read for the past week. I saw the stack in your coffee table yesterday, you can’t lie to me_.”

“I’m watching while reading,” Spencer said simply. “Anyway, why do you call?”

“ _Well, I just thought you might get bored sitting alone in some random building with Secret Service standing guard outside the door, so I thought I could call to cheer you up. I called Emily earlier, do you know Aaron Hotchner’s ex-wife is the fiancee of Speaker of the House?”_

“Really?” Spencer raised an eyebrow. “How in the world do you even know Aaron Hotchner? Let alone his ex-wife!”

“ _I have my way. Penelope Garcia and I went to the same book club. She told me over very early dinner this afternoon. I heard a whole lot of gossip in the White House from her, and in the HUD from Emily._ ” Trust JJ to have her eyes and ears everywhere to make sure her little brother was safe. She might not be the news anchor anymore, but she still had her contacts.

“Who’s Garcia?” Spencer decided to ask.

“ _President’s speechwriter_?”

“I thought her name was Gomez…”

“ _Sometimes I wonder if you really have eidetic memory,_ ” JJ chuckled over the line. Reid couldn’t help but smile. Over the years Spencer learnt to depend on her sister, since didn’t have much family, with his mother in Bennington Sanitarium in Las Vegas and his estranged father, Gideon was the closest thing he had for a father, though he still kept his distant from the man. JJ was his best friend and sister.

The conversation continued pleasantly as Spencer kept an eye on the television. Gideon had reach the middle part of his speech, but Spencer already had the whole thing remembered already. JJ brought Henry and Will, her husband, to the phone and they had a pleasant chat before Spencer realized that something was wrong when the footage on the television was interrupted and the Secret Service agents burst into the room.

Spencer could see it from the window, the Capitol Building was engulfed in flame. His mind reeling analyzing what just happened. An attack on the Capitol Building where the President, Vice-President, the members of his Cabinet were gathered for the State of the Union… A terrorist attack! Spencer felt his heart pounding loudly in his chest, scared and confused of what just happened. He didn’t hear JJ’s question over the phone as one of the Secret Service agent told him to drop his phone.

“Mr. Secretary, we need to leave, _now_ ,” he said urgently as he secured the room and closed off every window. The television had changed into a Breaking News, showing the scene of Capitol Building burnt from explosion. Spencer half-listened to the news anchor as the agents started to guiding him out of the room while talking to his radio to inform the security detail about transferring him to the White House that had been secured.

Soon he found himself escorted in the motorcade, heading to the White House. Everyone was on high alert and tense. Spencer sat nervously on the back seat of an SUV, glancing at one of the Secret Service agents he recognized. Derek Morgan was sitting quietly on the passenger seat of the car while another agent was driving the car towards the White House.

“Morgan… Can you tell me what just happened?” Spencer asked, suddenly he felt sick at the most likely scenario that happened.

Morgan glanced at him for a split second before he turned his attention back to the road. “The Capitol has been attacked. So far, there’s still no word on the President and his detail,” the agent informed him.

Spencer’s stomach churned at the possible outcome. His heart was still pounding hard, he felt like it was ready to burst out from his ribcage as Morgan talked to his radio.

“This is Morgan,” he talked to his mic and listened to whatever report he heard in his earwig. There was a tense silence before Morgan’s body went rigid. “Oh, God… Don’t tell me…” he didn’t continue, but Spencer quickly leant forward.

“What is it? What’s happening?” he asked quickly.

Morgan’s face was hard as stone when he told Spencer. “It’s confirmed,” the agent told the young Secretary. “Eagle is gone. Congress, the Cabinet…” Spencer felt his blood ran cold. “None of them made it.”

_Gideon!_

His mind shouted at the realization.

Morgan continued talking to his radio, probably about the next step should be taken in this situation. Spencer felt his mind went numb, and for the first time after so many years, it was simply just stopped working as he tried to process everything that was going on. It took him awhile until he realized that Morgan was talking to him before he snapped back to reality.

“I’m sorry… What did you just say?” Spencer looked up to the Agent sitting in the front seat.

“Mr. Secretary, we’re enacting the continuity of the government. A D.C. appellate judge will meet us at the White House,” Morgan repeated professionally, he was calm and firm. “Sir, you are now the President of the United States.”

 

* * *

 

Everything happened afterward was a blur. He remembered being led to the White House where JJ and her husband, Will LaMontagne, and Henry, were already waiting for him. Everyone was still in shock, some was already sobbing and crying, clinging onto the closest person as they mourned the loss. Television channels still reporting the news, as they could only watched the flames burnt the Capitol Building down. The President, the Congress, and the Cabinet had been confirmed dead. No one survived the attack.

“Sir, if you could,” a woman, Spencer guessed she was the judge, motioned to Spencer, holding a bible in her hands, looking at him urgently. “Ma’am, if you could hold the bible please,” she turned to JJ.

JJ looked surprised and turned to Will. Usually it was the First Lady’s role to hold the bible, but Spencer wasn’t married and he the only family members he had nearby was the three of them. The closest thing to a family he had was JJ, Will, and Henry. Will nodded as JJ hold the Bible and Will also joined her while he was still holding Henry in his other arm. This would have to make do. Knowing Spencer, JJ would’ve thought he would prefer to be sworn on a book of law rather than Bible (probably explaining the intention of being worn on the constitution or something), but this was an emergency, and they didn’t exactly had a choice now.

“Sir, please place your left hand here and raise your right hand,” she told Spencer, in which the young man quickly followed. “Repeat after me,” she said. “‘I, Spencer William Reid, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’”

“I, Spencer William Reid, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Spencer repeated after her. From the corner of his eyes, he could see someone was snapping his picture being sworn in his oversized sweater and glasses, looking disheveled. The Staffs were standing around him and the people he considered his family, watching him becoming the President of the United States.

“Ma’am, Sir, Mr. President,” the judge gave him a firm nod as she shook JJ’s, Will’s, and Spencer’s hand, confirming his new position now.

“Good. Now if you can follow me, Mr. President,” Spencer looked up to see Aaron Hotchner’s stoic face came into view, he looked tensed, just like everyone else in the building. “Mr. LaMontagne and Ms. Jareau, Secret Service will take you to the Resident now.” Spencer could only nodded as he nervously watched JJ and Will being led to another part of the White House while he followed the older man somewhere deeper in the White House, feeling nervous about everything.

It was a lot to process, and even his IQ of 187 still struggled to keep up with everything that was happening. He just let himself being whisked somewhere, just after being sworn as the President of the United States… and his mind kept returning to Gideon, feeling numb at the thought of his mentor… who was…

_No…_

“W-Where are we going?” he finally found his voice as Hotch led him to the part of the White House he was never been before, taking the elevator down to underground floor he would assume. He couldn’t help but looking around, watching people walked around briskly, talking to each other quickly. He could feel several eyes were looking at him, and he wasn’t sure what to do. Secret Services and the White House’s Staffs was still on high alert after what happened.

“The Presidential Emergency Operation Center,” Hotch informed him. He still sounded calm and collected, Spencer wondered how he did it. He knew how close Hotch was to Gideon, hell, the man was Gideon’s Chief of Staff after all. And not to mention how many co-workers he lose on the attack… and he wondered the reason why Hotch was here instead of joining the President during State of the union address.

Heavy looking steel armored door of the Operation Center opened, revealing a high tech military command center. Numerous screens were hung on the walls, showing the coverage of the attack while around the table in the room, Sencer could see some generals and directors of various agencies were trying to find out what exactly happened. The atmosphere was intense, and Spencer couldn’t help but felt out of place standing amongst five stars generals and directors of various government agencies like this. Hotch led him to the empty chair on the head of the table while no one was paying attention the newly sworn President who just entered the room.

Spencer glanced at Hotch for support, but the man only gave him a firm nod.

“Excuse me…” Spencer tried to get everyone, but he was ignored. He really didn’t have _it_. Hotch quickly took over, raising his voice so everyone could hear him.

“Everyone!” he said, exuberating the aura of command when he talked. Spencer couldn’t help but feeling completely inadequate now, standing there awkwardly while clutching the back of the leather chair he was supposed to sit on to calm his nerves. “I need you all to be quiet right now,” the Chief of Staff continued in calmer voice, once he got the attention of everyone in the room.

Spencer took a deep breath as he knew what he was supposed to do next.

“Please,” he said slowly, suddenly feeling like he was in high school again, being too young for his position and judged by the looks everyone around the room gave him when he talked. “Let’s take a moment for our fallen friends, heroes one and all,” he managed to say without breaking down when he thought of Gideon.

The room was quiet, yet they still stood up and bowed their heads solemnly, paying respect to their fallen countrymen who died tonight. Spencer did his best to keep himself together, after a few seconds he raised his head and muttered ‘thank you’ before the flurry of activities continued in more muted pace as people took a seat.

“We should go around the table…” Spencer looked at Hotch, wondering if that was what he was supposed to do. Hotch was his only support in this room now. He only knew these people from the media, he didn’t really know them. He felt pathetic for depending on the older man when everyone expecting him to stand up to his new position.

But Hotch didn’t seem to mind as he addressed the room smoothly.

“Where’s the CIA director?” he asked the representative of CIA in the room.

“We’re still working to set up a secure comm.,” the man informed Spencer and Hotch.

“The hell with secure comms!” the General scoffed. “We have to get him patched in now. Cell phone, landline, Skype… whatever we got.”

“Alright. Who’s got the network?” Hotch asked the room.

A man standing in the background the whole time raised his hand.

“Okay. You tell them we’ll be live in two hours from the Oval Office,” Hotch told him before he turned back to the table. “Nobody talks to any press of any office or agency,” he commanded, giving everyone a dark glare that clearly screamed ‘or else’. Everyone had known how scary the Chief of Staff could be, after all, he used to work as a prosecutor and he got his reputation from it.

Spencer bit his lip and turned to Hotch. “Do we know who’s responsible for this?” he asked.

“Still too early to determine,” a lady from Homeland spoke up.

“Well, we still have to get them something. The whole world is watching us,” Hotch said simply, and he wasn’t wrong. They got the eyes of the world watching them, and Spencer felt his stomach twisted painfully at the realization.

“And that’s why we have to alert all US embassies to convey to each host nation that _we_ are on a war footing and now it’s not the time to test us,” the General raised his voice above everyone else around the table. He picked up the secure landline and asked to be patched into the 24-hour watch at the Pentagon. “Inform the surviving joint chiefs we are going to DEFCON 2,” he said to the phone.

“You can’t make that call!” one of the other agency’s director spoke up.

“The Chairman of the Joint Chief is gone!”

“That doesn’t give you any authorities, General!” someone said.

“We’re under attack! What more authority do you want?!”

Spencer watched as arguments broke out. Everyone was talking, everyone was yelling at each other. The Nation was in crisis and he was supposed to be the leader. Spencer didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Even Hotch now had jumped into a heated argument with the General, and he could barely taking in what the were saying. Everything was too overwhelming, and how Spencer hoped he was back in his kitchen like fifteen hours ago, enjoying his huge mug of coffee and reading through every news outlet he could get his hands on before moving on to his psycholinguistic journal.

He felt sick.

He walked out of the room, finding the nearest bathroom before locking himself inside one of the stalls and threw up in the toilet.

What was he doing? He couldn’t do this. He was the lowest rung in the ladder, no one ever took him seriously, not even as the Secretary of HUD. He was too young, too weird. He might have his four Ph.D’s and his genius, but he would never have the same charisma like Gideon always shown. He wasn’t meant for this job. He doubted the White House’s Staffs eve remembered his name. He used to being referred as “the kid” or “that Secretary boy” after all. Now he was the one the country would be turning to in their darkest hours. He had no business of running the country… maybe he should have just stepped aside. Maybe he let on of those generals or even the CIA director to take over. At least they knew what they were doing… right?

He washed his hands, trying to gather himself together.

Gideon was his mentor, and now he was gone, and Spencer was here, trying to fill his shoes. What was he doing?

Spencer took a deep breath before he walked out of the bathroom to the hallway, almost bumping into a flurry of blonde hair and bright pink ensemble walking on stilettos. But he managed to stop himself from falling over as he noticed who was person he almost bumped into.

“Mr. President! I’m so sorry, Sir. I wasn’t watching where I was going and I didn’t mean to… Oh m God, you must be so busy, I--” she quickly tried to apologize, rambling nervously in front of him.

“No… No. It’s okay… You’re Garcia, right? The speechwriter for… President Gideon…?” Spencer was sure he got the name right this time after JJ told him.

“Oh! Uh, yes, Sir! Penelope Garcia,” she offered her hand before she realized, “Oh, shoot, you don’t shake hands. I’m really sorry, Sir. I… I didn’t know you know my name… I mean, I know JJ is your older non-biological sister, but I didn’t expect you to know…”

“I saw you talking to Hotch this morning when I arrived at the White House. You were arguing with her over the State of the Union address, section AB-33,” Spencer said simply.

Garcia raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows. “Oh, yeah… Housing reform… you remember it?”

“I have eidetic memory.”

“Yeah. JJ told me.” Garcia was looking at him carefully. “Are you okay, Sir? You don’t look well…”

“I’m… not…” Reid admitted slowly. “I don’t know what am I doing here. Everything just happened so fast I can barely keep up, and I have an IQ of 187,” he shook his head. He started to feel the beginning of headache, something he thought he had gotten rid off three years ago. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I’m not ready, not yet. I’m not good at this, I’m barely good as a Secretary. I have no business running this country, I’m not Gideon. The Nation needs someone they could rely on, but me… I’m a follower, not a leader. And a leader is what the country need the most in this moment. Not some _kid_.”

He didn’t know why he spewed everything on the blonde speechwriter now. Only a few hours ago he barely knew Garcia’s name, and now here they were, standing in front of the bathroom; the young newly sworn President in old oversized sweater and dorky glasses along with a blonde speechwriter with far too many color on her clothing.

Garcia’s face softened as she looked up at the lanky younger man. His hair was a mess, and his thick rimmed glasses only made him even younger. He looked more like a college student after three nights of no sleep than the President of the United States at the moment. She sighed.

“Maybe I should step down…” Spencer looked down to his Converse clad feet and mismatched sock.

“You’re right, maybe you should…” Garcia agreed slowly, making Spencer looked at her in shock. He was half guessing Garcia would talk him out of stepping aside. She looked like one of those optimists. “I lose a lot of friends tonight, and this is not something easy to handle,” she said. Spencer took notice of her slightly smeared mascara and puffy eyes, clearly she had been crying before she bumped into him. “But right, you’re the only one we have. So we just have to deal with it,” Garcia stood straighter, looking determined. “You will have to address the Nation, to make the people feel safe and secure. They will need you to look up to and reassure them that everything will be alright. You’re the face of this government now, and it’s _my_ job to make you sound presidential. I’ll write your speech, and in a few hours, you will dress nicely and deliver the speech I’ve written for you. It’s time to do your job, Mr. President.”

 

* * *

 

“Hotch!” Emily Prentiss rushed into the hallway of the West Wing after having a verbal spar with the Secret Service guarding the White House’s perimeter. She watched it on the news, the Capitol Building was attacked and the President along with the Cabinet and the entirety of the Congress were confirmed dead. Reid was the designated survivor, being placed in an undisclosed location before he was secured in the White House. Emily immediately jumped into her car and drove to the White House, trying to explain who she was to the Secret Service agent in charge. It was Derek Morgan who saw her and cleared her to enter the West Wing to find Reid or anyone really.

And she found the Chief of Staff, Aaron Hotchner.

“Prentiss,” the man barely glanced at the dark haired woman as he walked briskly to find the newly sworn President. “What do you want?” he asked, he didn’t mean to sound rude, but he didn’t have much time.

“I saw it on the news. Why wasn’t I informed? What happened? Where’s Reid?” she asked as she followed Hotch in her high heels at the same speed.

“I’m sorry, Emily, but you don’t have the clearance for the information,” he told her. “Everything is in code words clearance only, and you’re not authorize.”

“What the hell! I’m Secretary Reid’s Chief of Staff and his trusted advisor!” Emily chased after the man.

“He’s not a Secretary of HUD anymore, he’s the President of the United States. Now if you excuse me, I need to brief the President on few things.”

With that, Hotch made his way to the Oval Office where he saw the young President was being briefed by some generals from Pentagon about the nuclear code. Hotch couldn’t help but pity the man, looking so out of place in the room full impeccably dressed generals as they explained how the nuclear code worked. From the corner of his eyes, he could see General Harris sneered at the young man. Hotch secretly hoped Reid would get a hold of himself soon, or they’d going to have a problem soon. No one in this room trust the man in his early thirties to know how to handle the country being in crisis, let alone leading.

And the fact that he looked more like a high school student than a President wasn’t helping at all.

No wonder Prentiss kept fussing over him. Hotch had watched how the two of them interacted with each other, and Reid often let his Chief of Staff to take point. Even Prentiss had more dominating personality than Spencer Reid.

“So… you don’t need my fingerprints or my retina scan for this?” Reid asked, motioning to the suitcase that hold the nuclear launch code. He looked up the Major who just explained how the nuclear football worked.

“No, Mr. President. This is not like the movies,” General Harris sneered from his position in the side of the room, clearly not expecting much from the young man. Hotch sighed. He had to do something before it got worse. The General might went over the President’s head on making decision because he didn’t respect the young man enough. And the situation didn’t need more problem like internal power struggle in the midst of the attack on the government.

This was a delicate situation, Hotch had a lot in his plate. The White House was in chaos and he still hadn’t heard anything from Hailey. She was attending State of the Union. He got hold of Jessica, Hailey’s sister, who had been taking care of Jack since Hotch was being called in after the he had to drive Jack to the hospital. Hotch was ready to head to the Capitol Building for State of the Union address when Jack fell down the stairs and broke his arms. He told Elle, his deputy, he wouldn’t make it to the Capitol Building and stayed with Jack the whole time until he saw it on the news.

They didn’t have time to mourn, not yet. Not when the Nation was in the brink of chaos, and it was Hotch’s job to make sure the government still running properly, even with Spencer Reid took over the Office of Presidency.

He would mourn later.

But now wasn’t the time.

 

* * *

 

Penelope Garcia was sitting in front of her computer ready to start a draft for the President address in a few hours. Everyone was still in shock, in the background she could hear the television tuned in to the news channel. Some other staffs were lounging around in the room, watching the news giving a short biography of the man just sworn in as the President of the United States.

“... _Spencer Reid was born on October 28th 1981 in Las Vegas, Nevada. With an IQ of 187, he is the youngest person ever appointed for the position of Secretary in the President’s Cabinet as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He finished his three Phds in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering in Caltech, and Linguistic from Harvard, Dr. Reid worked in academia as an educator before he was appointed for the position in the Cabinet…_ ”

“We’re doomed,” one the guy watching snorted. “Look at the guy. My 17 years old looks older than he is…”

“And he’s never even been elected to any office before,” another guy added, “And he ran HUD. They found affordable homes for people which makes the guy a glorified real-estate agent. We’re really fucked.”

“Well, he’s in the next line of succession,” the first guy shrugged.

“No one would have foreseen this coming,” the second guy nodded at the television who was still running the piece.

Garcia sighed, as she turned around to face the two guys cluttering her office.

“Why in the world do you think there’s a designated survivor?” she snapped at them. “Because this was foreseen. Now shut up and go away. You’re ruining my space.” She turned back to her screen when she heard the two left her office and closed the door behind them.

Garcia couldn’t help but felt for the younger man. Spencer Reid looked so lost when she saw him coming out from the bathroom. She had heard of Dr. Spencer Reid before, it was hard not to. He was barely thirty when he was appointed by the President as one of his Secretary of HUD. Garcia had heard whispers and gossips around the office about him, but she got to better known of him when she started befriending JJ, Reid’s adoptive sister.

They were right, though. Dr. Spencer Reid was not someone you would expect to lead a country. Sure he was smart, a certified genius even, but you would need more than brain power to get accepted by public.

But right now she had a job, and that job was to make sure that Dr. Spencer Reid would become the President Reid.

 

* * *

 

Spencer had called his Mom, Diana Reid, after everything settled for a few minutes. He didn’t want her to find out from the news channel. He explained to her the circumstances, and he was happy today was one of her good day. Boost of confidence, that was what he needed when he listened to the familiar sound of her voice telling him he could do anything if he put his mind to it.

“I always know you’re meant to do great things, honey,” she said over the phone.

And he started to plan in his mind. There was no way the Generals and the directors down there would gladly took order from him, no matter if he held the title as Commander in Chief. Trust and respect had to be earned for these guys. He might be young, he might be new the the political games and power play, but he was a quick learner. He was an autodidact. Gideon had his own way to gain the respect he needed, but Spencer needed to find his own way.

He ran his fingers through his hair, standing alone just outside the Oval Office. Hotch gave him a chance to take a breath while the Chief of Staff would head back to the Operation Center to control the situation. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Derek Morgan had been shadowing him, probably had taken the position as his security detail now. Spencer sighed before he headed back to the Resident to check on JJ, Henry, and Will.

He found JJ was talking to Garcia, a laptop opened on the speechwriter’s lap while she read something to JJ. Spencer managed to catch the last few lines, and he quickly recognized it.

“It’s part of my speech in Atlanta at the Conference for New Urbanism on August 27th last year,” Spencer said as he entered the room. “I wrote it on my own since I thought having a degree in linguistics would help me writing a speech to the people in Atlanta about housing reforms. Emily said I put way too many statistics that would go over people’s heads and I’m sure 76% of the audience fell asleep by the fourth paragraph judging from the recordings of it rolling on the local news.”

“Yeah. And it was a good speech despite what you might think,” JJ said. “But it’s not enough, Spence. You will have to address the entire Nation, even the world now. We need to make you have the voice of a President.”

“Which I don’t have,” Spencer said as he looked at both JJ and Garcia. “I just been told that I have at least three pages list of phone calls from the enemies saying they’re not responsible for the attack, and now that I’ve said this I shouldn’t have told you this. I’m sorry, I can’t think straight at the moment. This is will end up bad, isn’t it?” he looked at both women in front of him.

“No, it isn’t,” JJ reached out and squeezed his hand gently for encouragement. “Penelope and I knew how keep our mouth shut and not tell anyone you accidentally told us something you shouldn’t have to anyone. Now, I know it’ll be hard, but everything’s going to be okay. Have you talk to Diana?”

“I have,” Spencer admitted quietly.

“And what did she say?”

“That I’ll be doing great because I was meant for great things?” Spencer peered, looking at JJ’s eyes shyly.

“Then you’re going to be fine. Diana always know, remember? A mother always know,” JJ squeezed his arm gently. “Spence, you will need to be strong. Stronger than you’ve ever been before, because that’s what we need right now,” she said gently before turning back to Garcia to prepare the speech. Spencer was ready to stay behind and listened to their discussion, but one of the White House staff had approached him to tell him that he was needed in the Operation Center.

 

* * *

 

Spencer Reid was never a violent person, but right now, he really wanted to punch General Harris’ face. Spencer might be just sworn in to the office a few hours ago, but he was sure as hell he wouldn’t declare a war on another country based on nothing but the General’s itchy fingers to put a blame on the enemy. Sure, he knew how tense the situation was and how the enemies would use this vulnerable moment to launch an attack. Spencer got the reports about enemy’s destroyers were ready to attack the US troops in the Strait, and the General thought it would be better to strike first before the enemy did. Spencer sat at the head of the table, watching the shouting match between the General and Aaron Hotchner. Well, the General was shouting, but Hotch was dominating the conversation with his calm and authoritative voice.

The General was all about attacking the enemies. He already prepared his warships to respond to the attack. Even though it had been already reported that all the enemies were denying responsibility for the attack. But it seemed like some other enemies wanted to use the event to their own advantage and Spencer could see from the map how the enemy’s troops started to mobilize.

 _This wasn’t good_ , he though as his mind reeling with the calculation of what the next move he was supposed to take. Jason Gideon told him in their games of chess years ago about thinking three steps ahead. But the world was changing. This was not a chessboard game anymore where he could sacrifice his pawns for the next advantageous move he could make. He was the leader of a country, his decision would affect people’s lives. In the morning, he could imagine how their economy would take a dive, but still… military action?

General Harris was still droning, getting angrier at him and talked him into preparing the ships for the imminent attack. But attack from who? None of the enemies were talking responsibility, the FBI and other law enforcements were still investigating the attack and Spencer hadn’t heard anything about it yet.

Finally he spoke up.

“Then what do you want me to do, General? Declare war? They just show me how to work the nuclear football, maybe this is a perfect time to try it out, right? I can see your point, General, that yes, tonight’s event can be used by our enemies as a chance to harm us. One of your men had reported about the mobilization of the enemy’s troops to close off the Strait. I’ve done the calculation, and the probabilities of the outcomes are not good. Our economy might take a leap off a cliff tomorrow, but waging a war with another country without probable cause?” Spencer frowned.

“This _is_ the probable cause! You can’t just put this off just because you’re not comfortable to do the right thing! The world has its eyes on us. We need to show them our strength! We need to take action, and not playing nice with them. We’re down on our knees, Mr. President, and they’re ready to slice our throats,” the General glared at Spencer in frustration.”We can’t afford to get you comfortable first, Mr. President.”

From the corner of his eyes, Spencer could see Hotch’s body tensed, as if he was ready to jump into the conversation but he held himself back. Spencer had to admire the man’s restrain after taken on the General’s verbal abuse before and didn't let it phase him. But Spencer determined to stand up his ground. He was the president. He was the one who made the call.

“Without concrete evidence of the enemies’ responsibility of the attack, I can’t authorize an attack on foreign country. There are too many at stake, and before we exhausted any other way, I can’t let you launch the attack,” Spencer said. The General looked ready to retort, but Spencer raised his hand, signaling he wasn’t finished yet. “You can prepare your warships and bombers, General. Scatter them and have them on standby, but I will not authorize an attack. Not yet. Like you said, the eyes of the world are directed at us. An all-out war is not an option at the moment.” He turned to Hotch. “How long until the Ambassador arrive?” he asked the Chief of Staff.

“Fifteen minutes,” the man answered smoothly.

“Good. Let’s deal with this peacefully first. If it isn’t working, we can do it your way, General.”

 

* * *

 

 

Spencer hoped he had Emily in the moment like this. He was sitting in front of an Ambassador from the foreign country and asking the man to tell his military to hold their ground from attacking the US troops abroad. Hotch was sitting in the corner, observing the meeting with calculating look on his face. Spencer knew was really not good about this kind of thing. But at least JJ managed to get hold of one of his suits and let Spencer refreshed himself a bit before meeting up with the Ambassador.

The man was dressed in an expensive charcoal suit, looking composed. His hair was started to graying, but his face was pleasant. Emily would know how to deal with this man, she used to be around foreign dignitaries with her mother’s job as an ambassador, Spencer thought as he shook the Ambassador’s hand.

“Mr. President,” the Ambassador smiled.

“Mr. Ambassador,” Spencer returned the greeting stiffly. “Please,” he motioned to the couch in the Oval Office, waiting for the Ambassador to sit down.

“Thank you,” the man nodded before he sat. “Please, allow me to begin extending to you and the American people my country’s most sincere sympathies on this horrific tragedy. If there is anything our people can do in response to this tremendous act of cowardice, rest assured, we will do it,” the man said.

“I appreciate that,” Spencer said as he sat across the Ambassador, trying to make himself looked comfortable in the Oval Office (which was still sounded weird to him thinking tht this was _his_ office nnow). Spencer leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he kept his eyes on the Ambassador before he continued. “You can begin by removing your destroyers from the Strait.”

The Ambassador blinked, but he still ket his calm. “Mr. President, excuse me, but I believe you have been misinformed.”

“Is that so? Because my defense department has war-gamed this out. They’re waiting for me to give them the green light, which, I assure you, I will do unless you pull your destroyers back within the next three hours. I ran through every scenario about this, Mr. Ambassador, and the result is not good, for your country and for mine. You may not know much about me and I might look naive, but I’m about as straight a shooter as you’re going to find in Washington… Though that metaphor might be a bit weird considering my lack of shooting prowess, but you should believe me when I tell you that I do not want my first act as Commander in Chief, to attack your country,” Spencer took a deep breath after his long explanation, watching the Ambassador carefully. He continued.

“But both of us know, it’s not up to us how history plays itself out. I have chosen to believe that your country is not playing on our emotions tonight, but nevertheless, you will feel the full impact of them if you do not comply with my demands. We know what would happen if you didn’t. The lead story in the morning will not be about the attack on our Capital, but on yours,” Spencer hoped this tactic would work. He had to show strength and confidence. He was the President of the United States. “Mr. Ambassador, please let’s not get off on the wrong foot here tonight,” he added softly this time.

The Ambassador looked deep in thought as he studied Spencer carefully. Spencer knew that calculating look so well, he used to be on the receiving end of it each time he stepped into the Cabinet meeting and voiced his opinion. But he was no longer Secretary Reid, he was President Reid now. He had to show the strong front. Finally, the Ambassador spoke up.

“Mr. President, I will speak to my government,” the man said in the end.

“Thank you, Mr. Ambassador,” Spencer smiled as he stood up and shook the Ambassador’s hand. “Three hours, Mr. Ambassador,” he reminded the man.

Now he was hoping this should work.

 

* * *

 

“You did a good job, Mr. President,” Aaron Hotchner said after he showed the Ambassador out and returning to the Oval Office. The Presidential address was only a few minutes away and the camera crew had started to pour into the Oval Office to set the equipment.

“Thanks, Hotch,” Spencer smiled as he took off his glasses and switched to the contact lense that JJ had brought for him. In the corner of the room, he could see Emily was there, talking quietly with JJ. Will was still back at the Resident, staying with Henry. There was no way they could go home right now, and Spencer didn’t see the problem of letting them stay for a couple of days until everything calmed down. “I heard you didn’t let Emily meeting me earlier,” Spencer said, his tone still calm and not accusing.

“It’s protocol, Sir. During an event like this, we can’t risk it bringing in non-essential personnel into the White House, even though she was your former Chief of Staff. I hope you understand,” Hotch said.

“I know. Everything change in matter of hours,” Spencer shook his head. “But please, don’t keep Emily away again. I still consider her as my Chief of Staff, and I’m sure the two of you can find a way to work it together.”

“I understand,” Hotch nodded.

There was silence in between them, as JJ walked up to Spencer to hand him his speech that she and Garcia had been working on before. Spencer did a quick-read, memorizing everything in it. At the moment like this he was grateful for his eidetic memory.

“I heard what happened in the Capitol Building… about… uhm… your ex-wife? If you want to take a few days off to be with your son, Emily and I will be fine for a couple of days working things here,” Spencer offered, watching the older man’s face softened with grief.

“I appreciate it, Sir. I might take you on the offer tomorrow. Prentiss is capable of handling everything, I’ve seen her work. The Staff will also gladly help you out,” Hotch nodded. “This is a brave new world we’re facing. The enemies are still out there, and you’re the hope that people will look out to.”

“There will be riots everywhere,” Spencer added softly. “People will question my legitimacy of leading this country from devastation. I’ve run every probabilities, and even now I have no idea what’s the right move to make. Gideon always said to think outside the box…” he glanced to the chessboard tucked in the corner of the room. The game was still unfinished from earlier this afternoon.

The last game that he and Gideon played.

“But I have no idea,” Spencer finished weakly.

Hotch looked at the younger man in front of him. He was already dressed in a nice suit, they managed to find a suit in his size. The tie was slightly crooked, the hair was still an untamable curls on top of his head. Spencer Reid didn’t look like a President at all. Hell, one of the interns in the Staff could pull off more Presidential look than this man.

“You’re our only choice,” Hotch said. “I agree that you’re not ready to lead the country, not yet. But this is what we have now. This is your job now, to be the pillar where everyone can lean on to feel safe and secure. Just remember, you’re not doing this alone. Our cabinet might be in shambles, our Congress might not exist, but everything will be okay in the end. We bounce back,” Hotch said firmly to the young President. “I just got a call a few minutes ago, Congressman David Rossi and Senator Alex Blake will be coming home. They couldn’t attend State of the Union because of family matters, but they’re ready to return to work as soon as possible. Both of them are trustworthy, even in Washington. Besides, you have the Staff of the White House to support you.”

Spencer nodded slowly. David Rossi and Alex Blake, he knew them. He used to guess lectured in Senator Blake’s class back when she was still teaching at Harvard. As for David Rossi… he never met the man before, but he had good reputation in Washington. People wanted him to run for President, but he wasn’t really interested in it. Spencer wasn’t alone.

“Five minutes, Mr. President,” one of the TV crew informed him.

Spencer walked up to the desk, standing there for a moment before he sat down for the first time in a very comfortable leather chair, facing the camera. He could see JJ and Emily in the corner. Morgan stood by the door, looking intimidating as usual while giving him a reassuring smile. Hotch stood not too far from the Secret Service agent, there was a ghost of encouraging smile on his face though his eyes were still clouded by grief. Spencer took a deep breath as he ran through the speech in his mind. It wasn’t like he would need it, they had teleprompter. But it calmed him down, letting his mind focusing on one task. Tonight, the Nation griefed.

No one knew what would happen tomorrow. A Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, far too young to hold office, never been elected to anything, sitting here in the Oval Office as the President of the United States. Some people might want to remove him, questioning his ability to lead the Nation in its current state. Spencer’s mind went to his mother in a sanitarium in Las Vegas, wondering what would happen if the press got hold of his mother’s illness. His mind went to his Godson, Henry, who was sleeping peacefully somewhere in the Resident. His mind went to Gideon and everyone in the Cabinet who died in the attack. His mind went to his people, wondering what tomorrow would bring to them.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He was not ready.

But this was his life now.

He opened his eyes, staring into the camera.

“Mr. President, you are live in five, four, three,...”

This was it.

And President Spencer Reid of the United States of America opened his mouth.

“My fellow Americans…”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what do you think?
> 
> Come scream with me on my Tumblr: aquaregiastuff.tumblr.com


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